“I think that was one of my goals I was waiting on. I wanted to have Tennessee as one of my (offers),” said Mims. “I used to watch them play. They used to be my favorite team. They still are.”
But that’s not to say Mims simply was waiting on an offer from Tennessee and now is destined to play there. He referred to Ole Miss as his leader last month after getting an offer from the Rebels less than a month ago and recently visiting them, and he said they’re still his favorite at the moment, although he’s “keeping my mind open.” He’s already planning to return to Ole Miss on June 1 to attend one of the Rebels’ camps.
Mims said his summer schedule now is likely to include a trip to Tennessee, though, and he’s looking forward to seeing for himself what the Vols have to offer. “We’re trying to schedule a plan, see if we can get up there one day,” he said. “I think maybe in June.” Rocker came away impressed with Mims after visiting his school. “Coach Rocker said he loved the way I exploded off the ball, I used my hands and how I had leverage,” Mims said. “He thought I would be a good leader for their team.”
The position he might play in college remains unclear and varies at least slightly from team to team. He said that’s partly because he once weighed 250 pounds and he’s now at 235. At his current weight, he said many teams are recruiting him as a likely defensive end or outside linebacker. If everything goes according to plan, though, he said he “should be back at 250” by the start of his senior season. “Most of the schools believe I can be a defensive end and an outside linebacker,” Mims said. “But they’re saying it depends on my weight. If I’ll still be 235 or close to 245, I’ll be, like, a defensive end and an outside linebacker. If I get up to 270, I’m going to be an inside defensive tackle, defensive end.”
He said the Vols have indicated that they view him as a possible edge rusher in their 3-4 base defense. “Basically, the defensive line coach said he believes he can see me as an end and an outside linebacker,” Mims said, referring to Rocker. “He’d have me working with their (outside) linebacker coach (
Chris Rumph) and himself.”
Mims has yet to make his first visit to Tennessee’s campus. He said he recently made a trip to Knoxville to watch a 7-on-7 tournament, but he didn’t get a chance to tour the Vols’ facilities while he was there. Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Memphis and Western Kentucky are among the schools he has visited so far this year.